Johnson & Johnson Says One-Shot Vaccine is 66% Effective Against Moderate to Severe COVID

Johnson & Johnson Says One-Shot Vaccine is 66% Effective Against Moderate to Severe COVID

Johnson & Johnson announced Friday that its single-shot coronavirus vaccine was 66% effective in protecting against moderate to severe COVID-19 disease in Phase 3 trials, which was comprised of nearly 44,000 participants across eight countries.

“Johnson & Johnson embarked on the global effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic a year ago, and has brought the full force of our capabilities, as well as tremendous public-private partnerships, to enable the development of a single-shot vaccine. Our goal all along has been to create a simple, effective solution for the largest number of people possible, and to have maximum impact to help end the pandemic,” said Alex Gorsky, Chairman, Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, Johnson & Johnson, in the company's release. 

 

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"The vaccine was 72% effective in the U.S., but only 57% effective in South Africa, where a more contagious variant has been spreading. It prevented 85% of severe infections and 100% of hospitalizations and deaths, according to the company."

This week, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that it is aware that the first US documented cases of the B 1.351 variant of SARS-CoV-2, which was first detected in South Africa, have been identified in South Carolina.

"The J&J vaccine turns in a fantastic result. We now have 3 highly effective vaccines. This vaccine showed sustained (and increasing!) immune protection over time, perhaps from a robust early induction of memory immune cells (CD4 and CD8)," tweeted former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb.

Efficacy in Focus, and FDA Approval

The vaccine is not as effective as some of its two-dose competitors -- the Johnson and Johnson vaccine results in development of neutralizing antibodies, is long-lasting and doesn’t require freezing like Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s shots.

The vaccine can be stored at refrigerator temperatures for three months.

The company said it will file for emergency use authorization from the FDA within a week. The U.S. has purchased 100 million vaccine doses from J&J.